On the night of August 19, 2000, an 8-year-old girl was murdered after being sexually assaulted by five young men who had kidnapped her and taken her to the grounds of a well-known castle in the southern Italian region of Apulia. Police investigators found the hidden body of the girl after following “Mario,” one of the group members, who had been found lying on the ground near the castle. Investigators and the prosecuting attorney eventually concluded that Mario, a marginal member of the group and apparently the least intelligent of the five men, assumed the role of group instigator, both in initiating the idea and the execution of kidnapping and sexually abusing the child, as well as the killing of the girl to eliminate the victim/witness. Prior to the criminal acts, group discussion of sexual fantasies were translated into action under the instigation of Mario, without any intention that the sexual abuse would be followed by murder. Mario’s lack of restraint or inhibitory protection against acting out these crimes apparently emboldened the group and encouraged them to move from fantasy to actual crimes. A psychological evaluation of Mario found him to have a mental disorder, but it was not of the type to diminish his personal responsibility for the crimes under Italian law. All five of the men were convicted of sexual assault and unpremeditated homicide, since the homicide was not part of the group’s initial planning and intention. 15 references